PREMIER LEAGUE

Sofascore Team of the Week – English Premier League Matchday 1

Mauro Zarate leads the front line after clinching a win for his side against Arsenal with a superb strike from outside of the box.

By Daniel Cole

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Each week SofaScore will bring you top performers in English Premier League, selecting fantasy team of the week based on SofaScore player match ratings, and maybe something a little extra that made them stand out. Also, we will make a small feature about one player whose performance was the highlight of the round.

So, after a long summer, the world’s best football league finally started this weekend, and what a start it was. A total of 30 goals were scored with two of the title favorites already dropping pre-recorded points.

One of those stumbling blocks for favorites was West Ham who were hosted by highly tipped Arsenal side. The Gunners fans expected their new acquisition Petr Cech will steal the headlines, but it was for all the wrong reason as his counterpart on the other side of the field pulled some amazing saves that allowed his side to record a long awaited victory. Therefore, West Ham goalkeeper Adrian leads our fantasy team on the goal.

Five teams managed to preserve clean sheets with Manchester City featuring two players in our back line.  Vincent Kompany was a commanding presence as centre-back and got on the score sheet after a towering header while Aleksandar Kolarov did well on the left back to close down any threat from WBA and still managed to come forward and deliver crosses time and again. Chris Smalling from Manchester United completes defensive pairing with Kompany as he made several key clearances with Tottenham mounting on the pressure in the final minutes. On the right back we have Liverpool’s Nathaniel Clyne who closed his side well and provided support in attack in what was a tough away game at Stoke City.

Riyad Mahrez makes the cut after impressive performance on the left for Leicester City in their 4-2 win. His two goals and a general romp through Sunderland defence earned him a perfect 10, first ever on SofaScore. On the right side is his teammate Marc Albrighton who had two assists in the game before getting on the score sheet himself. Central midfielders are David Silva and Yaya Toure. Both were key players for Manchester City in their 3-0 hammering of WBA, Silva in particularly inspired performance.

In the forward line we have Bafetimbi Gomis and Mauro Zarate. Gomis was especially a menace for Chelsea defenders, and later on Thibaut Courtois who tackled him down in the penalty box and received a red card. French international took the penalty himself and it proved to be enough for his side to earn an important point on the opening day. Mauro Zarate was also key player in his team, catching Petr Cech on the wrong foot to get his side two goals up, and ultimately killing any Arsenal hopes to turn the game around.

FEATURED PLAYER

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So, there you have it, our round one team of the week, and 37 to go…